07_29_10: Howard in the Media, Book: Vegan on the Cheap

Howdy! Welcome to the 70th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter. In this issue we ve a 1 hour video of Howard lecturing in Washington back in January 2010, and

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, Jul 29, 2010

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Howdy! Welcome to the 70th issue of the Mad Cowboy Newsletter.

In this issue we've a 1 hour video of Howard lecturing in Washington back in January 2010, and some articles/opinions about the recent debate Howard participated in on the topic: "Can You Be An Environmentalist and Eat Meat?" There's also some vegan recipes from the world's most prolific vegan cookbook author, Robin Robertson, and her latest achievement: "Vegan on the Cheap."

Further on down there's our "Mad Cow Info Round-Up," an article on why you might not want to use Agave Syrup, how "school lunches" are a National Security Threat, and a fine essay about the growing "Food Movement." In honor of VegNew's 10th Anniversary, there's a link to a Mad Cowboy Interivew with the VegNews Editor "way back when," and onward some interesting advice/please from the UN regarding diet and agroecology. You'll also read about the President's Panel recommendations on Cancer and the Environment, find some fine things (don't miss the Esselstyn/Campbell team-up in "Forks Over Knives") to watch and listen to in the "Vegan Digital Media Theater," learn how PETA is taking on BP, and much more. And don't miss the return of our "Quick Bytes" resources section!

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*01: The Vegan Mind-Bender Contest Winner/Challenge!
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LAST ISSUE'S MAD COWBOY VEGAN MIND-BENDER:
"If 500,000 Americans turned off the faucet when brushing their teeth, how many gallons water would be saved per day?"

(a) 1 million (b) 2 million (c) 3 million (d) 4 million

Congratulations to Rebecca E. Goth of Wheeling, WV, for correctly guessing "(d)" and winning the luck of the draw and a year's subscription to "VegNews." (NOTE: Ethical Planet has apparently folded and will not be contributing to the Contest as of the last newsletter).

THIS WEEK'S VEGAN MIND-BENDER:
"In encouraging renewable fuels, the US government subsidizes research/development of ethanol, wind, and solar. Off the total amount federally subsidized, ethanol accounts for how much?"

(a) 1/3 (b) 1/2 (c) 2/3 (d) 3/4

Please e-mail guesses to: webmaster@... with the word "contest" in your subject line by NLT Aug. 30th, 2010. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS (U.S. domestic only). It will not be sold nor given out to anyone but VegNews.

[Many thanks to Joe Connelly, Editor, VegNews, who has offered a FREE one-year subscription to a winner chosen at random those submitting the correct answer to each MC Newsletter's Contest. Our thanks to Joe, and you can learn more about VegNews at:

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*02: Recipes from "Vegan on the Cheap" by Robin Robertson
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"Robin has exploded the myth that eating healthy is too expensive. "Vegan on the Cheap" is the prefect book for an economic approach to healthy eating. Perfect book at the perfect time."

Howard F. Lyman LL.D., "The Mad Cowboy"

CHEAPAMOLE:
(makes about 3 cups, < 50 cents per serving)

"...As a bonus to being cheaper than regular guacamole, this version also contains less fat and more protein. ."

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the garlic, peas, beans, and chiles and blend until smooth.

2. Add the lime juice, oil, and cumin and blend until well combined. Use a rubber spatula to scrape themixture into a medium bowl. Stir in the onion and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. This tastes best if used on the same day that it is made. Use it as a dip for chips or cut vegetables or any way you would use regular guacamole.

2. In a blender or food processor, combine the black beans, sugar, and oil and blend until smooth. Add the banana, coffee, and vanilla, and blend until smooth.

3. Scrape the mixture into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnute pieces, if using.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then refrigerate for several hours before cutting into squares.

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*03: Mad Cow Info Round-Up
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"FOOD SAFETY IN THE US: WE'RE ON RED ALERT:" (04/12/10): "... 70 million Americans are sickened, 300,000 are hospitalized, and 5,000 die from food-borne illness every year [1]... Peanuts, lettuce, pistachios, spinach, hamburgers sold to Boy Scout camps, peppers, tomatoes, and pepper-coated sausages are among the foods that have sickened and killed Americans in just the last few years. Our children are most at risk from these food threats, with half of all food-borne illness striking children under 15 years old [1]... the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently inspects less than 25% of all food facilities in the U.S. More than 50% of all American food facilities have gone uninspected [2] for five years or more... Large processing facilities, which now mix foods from across the country and the world, are not being inspected. Illnesses caused by contaminated foods, which could be prevented with proper government oversight, are instead causing the hospitalization of hundreds of thousands and the deaths of thousands of Americans. Again, the victims are, disproportionately, our children... We need to separate out the 'Food' part of the Food and Drug Administration and consolidate all authority under a new Food Safety Agency. We did this for Homeland Security; we should also do it for food security. After all, it is the lack of food safety in this country that is the far more imminent threat to all of us, our families and, especially, our children."

"AMERICAN MEAT IS EVEN GROSSER THAN YOU THOUGHT:" (05/01/10): "In 2008, Mexican authorities rejected a shipment of U.S. beef because the meat exceeded Mexico's regulatory tolerance for copper. The rejected meat was returned to the United States, where it was sold and consumed, because the U.S. has no regulatory threshold for copper in meat. Incidents like this are why the food safety arm of USDA, known as the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), is under USDA scrutiny. While the public has gotten used to microbes like E. coli and salmonella threatening the nation's meat supply, and while food safety agencies make food-borne illness a high-profile priority, contamination of meat by heavy metals, veterinary drugs and pesticides has been slipping through the bureaucratic cracks. Microbial contaminants can be killed by cooking, but chemical residues aren't destroyed by heat. In fact, some of these residues break down into more dangerous substances when heated, according to the FSIS National Residue Program for Cattle, a recent report by the USDA's Office of the Inspector General. The report is full of bad news about the ineffectual attempts that are being made to keep chemical residues out of the food supply, but optimists might point to the report's tone as a sliver of good news. The report is sharply critical of the efforts to keep our meat free of chemical residues, and shows determination to shore up this gaping hole in food safety..."

... So while improvements appear to be in the works for the production practices behind mystery meat and mystery milk, the system shows little sign of becoming inherently less disgusting. As long as customers keep demanding cheap meat, cheap meat will probably continue to be produced."

"FEARS GROW AS ANIMAL DISEASE SPREADS IN S.KOREA:" (05/03/10): "South Korea stepped up major quarantine efforts Monday as a highly contagious animal disease threatened the centre of its livestock industry. The agriculture ministry said more roadblocks and quarantine posts were set up after the foot-and-mouth outbreak hit a state livestock research institute at Cheongyang, 160 kilometres (96 miles) south of Seoul, on Saturday... Agriculture Minister Chang Tae-Pyong visited the institute Sunday and called for intensive efforts to contain the outbreak. "All-out efforts must be made to stop it from spreading into the centre of our livestock industry," he said.

Foot-and-mouth disease affects cloven-hoofed animals including cows, sheep, goats and deer. It is rarely transmitted to humans but spreads easily between animals... Foot-and-mouth outbreaks in 2000 and 2002 cost South Korea an estimated 450 billion won, including compensation..."

"ROMAINE LETTUCE RECALL IN 23 STATES OVER E. COLI:" (05/06/10): "An E. coli outbreak possibly linked to tainted lettuce has sickened at least 19 people in Ohio, New York and Michigan, including students on three college campuses, prompting a recall throughout much of the country. Freshway Foods of Sidney, Ohio, said it was recalling romaine lettuce sold under the Freshway and Imperial Sysco brands in 23 states and the District of Columbia because of a possible link to E. coli. Twelve of those sickened were hospitalized, three of them with life-threatening symptoms, the Food and Drug Administration said. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was looking at 10 other cases probably linked to the outbreak... The FDA is focusing its investigation on lettuce grown in Arizona as a possible source for the outbreak, according to two people who have been briefed by the agency... E. coli infection can cause mild diarrhea or more severe complications, including kidney damage. The three patients with life-threatening symptoms were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause bleeding in the brain or kidneys.

The lettuce was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

"SAFER FOOD, AND SOON:" (05/11/10): "Two-thirds of the chickens sold in this country are contaminated with campylobacter or salmonella or both. And that's a significant improvement over three years ago, when 80% of the chickens contained at least one of those kinds of bacteria, according to Consumers Union. So of course the U.S. Department of Agriculture is right to be raising its standards to guard against poultry contamination, which sickens more than 60,000 people a year. But this is chicken feed compared with the 76 million people who fall prey to food poisoning each year in the United States. For that, the country needs to overhaul its food safety system --- and finally, after eight months of letting it languish, the Senate is again taking up legislation that would tighten food tracking and oversight. The House passed its version in July 2009, but the Senate bill stalled. Recently, though, it picked up support and is expected to come to the floor this month..."

"ROMAINE LETTUCE RECALL EXPANDS:" (05/11/10): "More romaine lettuce has been recalled amid an investigation into an outbreak of food-borne illness that has sickened at least 19 people in three states. Vaughan Foods of Moore, Oklahoma, is recalling romaine lettuce with "use by" dates of May 9 and May 10, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. The company sold the lettuce to restaurants and food-service facilities, the administration said... Vaughan's recall comes after Freshway Foods recalled romaine lettuce last week because of a possible connection to an outbreak of food-borne disease linked to E. coli O145 in Michigan, Ohio and New York... Freshman Richard Cardinale filed a lawsuit after his stool sample tested positive for E. coli O145, according to court documents. He suffered from gastrointestinal problems including bloody diarrhea and dehydration and was hospitalized on April 14 for treatment. "We have a new form of deadly E.coli to contend with," said food safety lawyer Bill Marler, who is representing Cardinale. "It is past time for the government and industry to track this bug as it does E.coli O 157:H7," he said, referring to the best known form of toxic E.coli... though most healthy adults recover from E. coli O145 within a week, young children and the elderly are most at risk of developing HUS..."

"IN E. COLI FIGHT, SOME STRAINS ARE LARGELY IGNORED:" (05/26/10): "For nearly two decades, Public Enemy No. 1 for the food industry and its government regulators has been a virulent strain of E. coli bacteria that has killed hundreds of people, sickened thousands and prompted the recall of millions of pounds of hamburger, spinach and other foods. But as everyone focused on controlling that particular bacterium, known as E. coli O157:H7, the six rarer strains of toxic E. coli were largely ignored... Although the federal government and the beef and produce industries have known about the risk posed by these other dangerous bacteria for years, regulators have taken few concrete steps to directly address it or even measure the scope of the problem... Earthbound Farm, the nation's largest producer of organic salad greens, is one of the few companies that does screen for the full range of toxic E. coli, and it has found a worrisome incidence of the rarer strains. Out of 120,000 microbial tests last year, about one in 1,000 showed the presence of unwanted microbes, mostly the six strains. "No one is looking for non-O157 to the level we are," said Will Daniels, Earthbound Farm's senior vice president for food safety. "I believe it is really going to emerge as one of the areas of concern."

"MAD COW DISEASE IN USA: PROFITS TAKE PRIORITY, PART I:" (06/09/10): "On March 10, 2010, seventy-six organizations representing millions of Americans sent a letter to the USDA asking for greater protection against cows with bovine spongiform encephalopathy or mad cow disease entering the US from Canada. This letter was sent after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed, in February, the 18th case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, in a cow aged 72 months found dead on an Alberta farm... The BSE cow was detected through Canada's national BSE surveillance program but was not posted on the CFIA website for two weeks... Scientists theorize that BSE originated in the United Kingdom due to livestock feeding practices where slaughterhouse wastes were rendered into high-protein meal and fed to cattle. In 1996 epidemiologists in the UK realized that consumption of contaminated beef products by people resulted in a human form of the disease called Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, or vCJD. The World Health Organization claims 190,493 confirmed cases of BSE in 21 nations in Europe, Japan, Israel, the USA and Canada as of June 2009. But these numbers are open to question. CJD is sometimes misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's. In one study, a postmortem examination of 46 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's found 13% had CJD. With 4 million cases of Alzheimer's in the US, Consumers Union argues there could be a hidden epidemic of CJD.

"SPAGHETTIOS RECALL:" (06/19/10): "Campbell Soup Supply Company LLC based out of Paris, Texas on June 17 issued a voluntary recall for about 15 million pounds of "SpaghettiOs with Meatballs" canned products due to possible under processing, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) announced on its website. The recall came soon after the company discovered the problem through a routine warehouse inspection and subsequent investigation. Luckily, there has been no reporting of any botulism-poisoning cases associated with consumption of SpaghettiOs subject to the recall, the FSIS said. Under-processed meat products can pose a risk of botulism, a rare, life-threatening paralytic illness caused by neurotoxin produced by an anaerobic, gram positive, spore forming bacterium, Clostridium botulium, according to marlerblog.com, owned by Bill Marler, a Seattle-WA based food safety attorney..."

"FDA SAYS ANTIBIOTICS IN MEAT A 'SERIOUS PUBLIC HEALTH THREAT':" (06/28/10): "The Food and Drug Administration is urging meat producers to limit the amount of antibiotics they give animals in response to public health concerns about the drugs. The FDA said antibiotics in meat pose a "serious public health threat" because the drugs create antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect humans who eat it. The agency is recommending that producers use the drugs judiciously, limiting their use unless they are medically necessary and only using them with the oversight of a veterinarian. "Developing strategies for reducing (antibiotic) resistance is critically important for protecting both public and animal health," the agency said in draft guidelines printed in the Federal Register on Monday. The agency said misuse and overuse of the drugs has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotics have been given to animals to kill pathogens for more than 50 years, and the FDA acknowledged that practice has had "tremendous benefits" to animal and human health. Of greater concern, the agency said, is when producers use antibiotics on healthy animals to speed growth and reduce feed costs. The agency is also concerned about antibiotics that are given continuously through feed or water to entire herds or flocks of animals..."

"BISON MEAT RECALLED OVER LINKS TO E. COLI CONTAMINATION:" (07/06/20) "A Colorado company has recalled about 66,000 pounds of bison meat after federal agriculture officials linked it to E. coli contamination, The Epoch Times reported Monday. In a statement on its website, Rocky Mountain Natural Meats said it was working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service in voluntarily recalling the products --- ground bison, ground buffalo and steaks. E. coli is a potentially deadly germ that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in severe cases, kidney failure. On Friday, federal authorities linked the meat with six people falling ill --- five in Colorado and one in New York."

"RULES SEEK TO EXPAND DIAGNOSIS OF ALZHEIMER'S:" (07/13/10): "For the first time in 25 years, medical experts are proposing a major change in the criteria for Alzheimer's disease, part of a new movement to diagnose and, eventually, treat the disease earlier. The new diagnostic guidelines, presented Tuesday at an international Alzheimer's meeting in Hawaii, would mean that new technology like brain scans would be used to detect the disease even before there are evident memory problems or other symptoms. If the guidelines are adopted in the fall, as expected, some experts predict a two- to threefold increase in the number of people with Alzheimer's disease. Many more people would be told they probably are on their way to getting it. The Alzheimer's Association says 5.3 million Americans now have the disease... the current formal criteria for diagnosing Alzheimer's require steadily progressing dementia --- memory loss and an inability to carry out day-to-day activities, like dressing or bathing --- along with a pathologist's report of plaque and another abnormality, known as tangles, in the brain after death. But researchers are now convinced that the disease is present a decade or more before dementia. "Our thinking has changed dramatically," said Dr. Paul Aisen, an Alzheimer's researcher at the University of California, San Diego, and a member of one of the groups formulating the new guidelines. "We now view dementia as a late stage in the process..."

"SCHOOL LUNCHES CALLED A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT:" (04/20/10): "School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat... A new report being released Tuesday says more than 9 million young adults, or 27 percent of all Americans ages 17 to 24, are too overweight to join the military. Now, the officers are advocating for passage of a wide-ranging nutrition bill that aims to make the nation's school lunches healthier... This isn't the first time the military has gotten involved in the debate over school lunches. During World War II, military leaders had the opposite problem, reporting that many recruits were rejected because of stunted growth and inadequate nutrition. After the war, military leaders pushed Congress to establish the national school lunch program so children would grow up healthier. The program was established in 1946, "as a measure of national security," according to the original bill language..."

"40,000 DEATHS A YEAR DUE TO JUNK FOOD:" (06/21/10): "More than 40,000 Britons are dying unnecessarily every year because of high levels of salt and fat in their diets, the Government's public health watchdog Nice has warned. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) says that unhealthy foods have wreaked a "terrible toll of ill health" on the nation and placed a "substantial" strain on the economy. For the first time, the organisation publishes landmark guidance on how to prevent the "huge number of unnecessary deaths" from conditions such as heart disease that are linked to the consumption of ready meals and processed food. It calls for sweeping changes to food production and government policy to encourage lifestyle changes, and to reduce significantly the amount of salt and saturated fat the nation consumes... While the guidance was welcomed by health experts, representatives of the food and drink industry said significant progress on salt and fat had already been taken. The Food and Drink Federation accused Nice of being "out of touch with the reality". Julian Hunt, its director of communications, said: "We are surprised that Nice has found the time and the money to develop guidance that seems to be out of touch with the reality of what has been happening for many years. "The food industry is leading the world when it comes to voluntarily changing the recipes of popular food brands so that they are lower in salt, fat or sugar; introducing better-for-you choices at the same price as standard lines; and improving the quality of nutrition information available on packs."

"THE FOOD MOVEMENT, RISING:" (06/10/10): "... Americans have not had to think very hard about where their food comes from, or what it is doing to the planet, their bodies, and their society... Cheap food has become an indispensable pillar of the modern economy. But it is no longer an invisible or uncontested one. One of the most interesting social movements to emerge in the last few years is the "food movement," or perhaps I should say "movements," since it is unified as yet by little more than the recognition that industrial food production is in need of reform because its social/environmental/public health/animal welfare/gastronomic costs are too high... But perhaps the food movement's strongest claim on public attention today is the fact that the American diet of highly processed food laced with added fats and sugars is responsible for the epidemic of chronic diseases that threatens to bankrupt the health care system. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that fully three quarters of US health care spending goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which are preventable and linked to diet: heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and at least a third of all cancers... It is only a matter of time before politicians seize on the power of the food issue, which besides being increasingly urgent is also almost primal, indeed is in some deep sense proto- political. For where do all politics begin if not in the high chair?---at that fateful moment when mother, or father, raises a spoonful of food to the lips of the baby who clamps shut her mouth, shakes her head no, and for the very first time in life awakens to and asserts her sovereign power."

"PHTHALATE, ANTIBIOTIC LEVELS PLUMMET AFTER FIVE-DAY VEGETARIAN DIET:" (05/11/10): "To date, little research has looked at exactly what chemicals routinely enter the body through food, at what levels, and whether exposure to these chemicals can be reduced through dietary changes. One innovative study on pesticide exposure through food found that after replacing school children's conventional diets with organic diets for five days, levels of pesticides in the children's urine dropped so dramatically as to be undetectable until the conventional diets were reintroduced. Whether dietary changes can impact levels of other environmental chemicals in the body remains unknown.

Phthalates and antibiotics are both known to enter the body through food. Phthalates are a group of industrial chemicals that have been shown to alter hormonal activity in the body, affecting many body systems, including the reproductive organs and the brain. Phthalates are mainly used to keep plastics (like PVC) soft, and thus can enter the food supply during processing and packaging... [In a new study] Twenty-five participants lived in a Buddhist temple and adopted the monks' lifestyle  including their traditional vegetarian diet  for five days... Every participant had measurable levels of all six phthalate breakdown products at both the beginning and end of the study. However, after the five-day program, levels of all but one had dropped significantly, as had the estimated daily intake of phthalates... Antibiotic levels showed a more dramatic drop, suggesting that food is, in fact, the major route of exposure..."

"VEGAN: USATODAY ATHELETE OF THE WEEK:" (05/17/10): "Endurance runner [vegan] Scott Jurek (Duluth, Minn.) finished second at the World 24-hour Run Championships in Brive, France. The Seattle-based vegan ran more than 165.7 miles over 24 hours to win the silver medal. That was a record finish for an American and that's why Jurek is USA TODAY's athlete of the week.

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*06: UN & Vegan Diet/Agroecology, Dead Zone, POTUS Panel & Cancer
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"UN URGES GLOBAL MOVE TO MEAT AND DAIRY-FREE DIET:" (06/02/10): "A global shift towards a vegan diet is vital to save the world from hunger, fuel poverty and the worst impacts of climate change, a UN report said today. It says: "Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products." Professor Edgar Hertwich, the lead author of the report, said: "Animal products cause more damage than [producing] construction minerals such as sand or cement, plastics or metals. Biomass and crops for animals are as damaging as [burning] fossil fuels."... The panel of experts ranked products, resources, economic activities and transport according to their environmental impacts. Agriculture was on a par with fossil fuel consumption because both rise rapidly with increased economic growth, they said..."

"RIGHT TO FOOD: "AGROECOLOGY OUTPERFORMS LARGE-SCALE INDUSTRIAL FARMING FOR GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY," SAYS UN EXPERT:" (06/22/10): ""Governments and international agencies urgently need to boost ecological farming techniques to increase food production and save the climate," said UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, while presenting the findings at an international meeting on agroecology held in Brussels on 21 and 22 June. Along with 25 of the world's most renowned experts on agroecology, the UN expert urged the international community to re-think current agricultural policies and build on the potential of agroecology... "Today, most efforts are made towards large-scale investments in land  including many instances of land grabbing  and towards a `Green Revolution' model to boost food production: improved seeds, chemical fertilisers and machines," the Special Rapporteur remarked. "But scant attention has been paid to agroecological methods that have been shown to improve food production and farmers' incomes, while at the same time protecting the soil, water, and climate. The widest study ever conducted on agroecological approaches (Jules Pretty, Essex University, UK) covered 286 projects in 57 developing countries, representing a total surface of 37 million hectares: the average crop yield gain was 79%. Concrete examples of `agroecological success stories' abound in Africa..."
[Very edited from:http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10178&LangID=E%3E

"PRESIDENTIAL PANEL URGES MORE STEPS TO REMOVE CARCINOGENS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT:" (05/06/10): ""Grievous harm" from carcinogens in the environment has been "grossly underestimated" by the U.S. National Cancer Program, a presidential panel charges.. "The grievous harm from this group of carcinogens has not been addressed adequately by the National Cancer Program," Leffall and Kripke write. "The Panel urges you most strongly to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water, and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our nation's productivity, and devastate American lives..."

"DEAD ZONE IN GULF LINKED TO ETHANOL PRODUCTION:" (07/06/10): "While the BP oil spill has been labeled the worst environmental catastrophe in recent U.S. history, a biofuel is contributing to a Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" the size of New Jersey that scientists say could be every bit as harmful to the gulf. Each year, nitrogen used to fertilize corn, about a third of which is made into ethanol, leaches from Midwest croplands into the Mississippi River and out into the gulf, where the fertilizer feeds giant algae blooms. As the algae dies, it settles to the ocean floor and decays, consuming oxygen and suffocating marine life. Known as hypoxia, the oxygen depletion kills shrimp, crabs, worms and anything else that cannot escape. The dead zone has doubled since the 1980s and is expected this year to grow as large as 8,500 square miles and hug the Gulf Coast from Alabama to Texas... The gulf dead zone is the second-largest in the world, after one in the Baltic Sea. Scientists say the biggest culprit is industrial-scale corn production. Corn growers are heavy users of both nitrogen and pesticides. Vast monocultures of corn and soybeans, both subsidized by the federal government, have displaced diversified farms and grasslands throughout the Mississippi Basin..."

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*07: Vegan Digital Media Theater
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VIDEO TRAILER: "FORKS OVER KNIVES:" (2010): "The film's major storyline traces the personal journeys of Dr. T. Colin Campbell, a nutritional scientist from Cornell University, and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a former top surgeon at the world renowned Cleveland Clinic. Inspired by remarkable discoveries in their young careers, these men conducted several groundbreaking studies. Their separate research led them to the same startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented---and in many cases reversed---by adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet. Despite the profound implications of their findings, their work has remained relatively unknown to the public.http://www.forksoverknives.com/>www.ForksOverKnives.com

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*08: PETA vs. BP, Unappetising McTruth, Disturbing Dairy
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"ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS TARGET BP:" (06/22/10): "Animal rights advocates are pushing prosecutors to go after oil giant BP with a new weapon: animal cruelty charges. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, sent a letter recently to each of the Gulf Coast attorneys general who have been impacted by the massive Gulf oil spill, urging them to open criminal investigations on BP officials based on state animal cruelty charges. "As a direct result of BP's reckless acts and omissions, each of these animals has suffered and endured a tortuous death," Jeff Kerr, PETA's general counsel, said in the letters to the attorneys general of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Under Louisiana law, cruelty to animals is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine or both for each hurt or killed animal..."

"THE VERY UNAPPETISING TRUTH ABOUT MCDONALD'S CHICKEN MEALS (JAMIE OLIVER, LOOK AWAY NOW):" (05/15/10): "A chicken squats in a shed the size of a football pitch somewhere in the outback of Brazil. And it's not alone. One of tens of thousands, each bird is allowed the floor space equivalent to a sheet of A4 paper and will live for just 40 days before it hits its genetically-engineered slaughter weight. That's if it doesn't perish along the way. Five per cent or so will be unable to cope with the conditions and die even before then. Those that survive will be plucked and butchered in an industrial process the like of which this planet has never before seen. Every year billions of chickens will live and die in this way. Of course, South America is a long way away. But your local McDonald's is not. And that is where a significant proportion of this intensively reared meat will eventually end up... Of all the chicken churned out by the fast-food chain - the equivalent of 30 million birds a year - 60 per cent is imported frozen from Brazil. A further nine per cent comes from Thailand and 30 per cent from Holland. ... The chain's ads boast of lovingly nurtured produce.. This month, the celebrity chef Jamie Oliver publicly gave his backing to the chain. 'The quality of the beef, they only sell free-range eggs, they only sell organic milk, their ethics and recycling is being improved and improved,' he said in an interview...' Ironically enough, Jamie Oliver has been a vocal critic of the intensive rearing of chickens. Two years ago, in his Channel 4 show Jamie's Fowl Dinners, he branded the practice as 'morally wrong' and called for the public to switch to birds that enjoy a better standard of life. All of which makes you wonder whether - when he discovers the truth about where McDonald's chicken comes from - he will be quite so effusive in his praise for the company's 'healthy' new image.

"GOT MILK? A DISTURBING LOOK AT THE DAIRY INDUSTRY:" 03/28/10: "Eating milk, cheese, sour cream, ice cream, and other dairy yumminess is impossible to do with a clear conscience -- and I'm not referring to the fat or cholesterol. Calves born into the industrial grip of today's dairy industry have a road ahead of them that is short, but not merciful. Dairy cows are subject to brutal conditions before being sent to slaughter for beef and male calves are worth next to nothing in the dairy business. Some are simply left to die after birth. Many are slaughtered for low-grade "bob veal" a few days after they are born and will end up as cheap hot dogs or dog food. While a small number of dairies are bucking the industrial trend, the vast majority of dairy products we eat come from factories that are nothing short of horrific in many cases..."

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*10: Closing Thoughts
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"It may be that when we no longer know which way to go that we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings."

"A corporation, essentially, is a pile of money to which a number of persons have sold their moral allegiance."

"Do unto those downstream as you would have those upstream do unto you."

"What I stand for is what I stand on."

- the above all attributed to Wendell Berry

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